bad weather
by RyuravenFox
Summary: Annie and Mikasa are paired together for a group work. Annie doesn't care about her grades, but Mikasa does. The deadline is not far away and Mikasa confronts Annie with this. But then a storm arrives, cutting them off from the rest of the world. How will they deal with this? Rating may change, I'm not sure how this story will end yet.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own SnK

I thought it was time to try writing a Mikasa x Annie story. I didn't name the school, but it's not important for this story. I hope I stay true to the characters personality, if not, please let me know! Now, enjoy ;)

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It was near the end of February, but snowflakes fell out of the gray sky. Annie sighed as she walked through the dirty ice next to the road. It was friday, and she was glad that it was almost weekend. The weekends were her only chance to escape from the drag of daily life. She turned left at the crossroads, and her destination came in sight. Several teens dressed in the same uniform as Annie hurried towards the school, entering the warm building as fast as they could. Yet others preferred smoking a cigarette in front of the gates, shivering, but not willing to risk smoking on school property.

Annie walked past them, careful not to inhale the smoke clouding her path. She entered the building, the hallway was noisy and the floor wet, thanks to the many people gathered inside. She forced her way through the crowd, looking for a quiet place to spend the last few minutes before class started. When she didn't find a quiet place, she decided to go to her first class.

Most of the students were already seated, chatting with their friends. Annie slouched to her usual place in the back of the class, next to the window. She glanced over to the smiling faces of her classmates, she didn't even know half of them by name, despite having been in the same class for years.

The teacher entered, drowning the voices as she immediately started where she had left of at their previous lesson. It didn't take long before Annie averted her gaze, blankly staring at the icicles formed on the window. No matter how enthusiastic Hanji sensei was, she had never managed to get Annie to show even the slightest interest in what she was saying. She had always been able to pass to the next grade, and this was her last year, no need to start putting an effort into it now.

"I will give you the next five minutes to discuss your group work, but remember, it has to be done by next wednesday!" Hanji sensei said, disturbing Annie's thoughts.

Mikasa walked over to Annie, an annoyed look on her face.

"It is called a group work for a reason, you know."

"So?"

"It's been two weeks and we still have nothing. I already found all the information we need, but I'm not going to make this alone."

"Why not? You just said you have everything you need."

"We get points for cooperation. If Hanji finds out I did it all by myself she'll fail us both."

"I don't care about grades."

"Geez, Annie. Would it kill you to make your homework for once in your life?" she waited a little but when Annie didn't respond she went on, "If you don't care about your own grades that's just fine by me, but my grades depend on this too. So please just help me out, even if it's just a little."

Annie broke the eye contact, something in Mikasa's eyes made it impossible to keep refusing. "Fine" she sighed.

"Great!" Mikasa took an empty chair and sat down next to Annie. "We have a lot of work to do so I think we will need most of the weekend to finish it."

"What? In the weekend?" Annie protested."

"If we wait until monday we simply won't have enough time. Sorry if you already made plans, but you should have thought about our group work first."

Annie sighed again, she didn't know Mikasa that well, but she knew she wouldn't be able to get out of this one. "Fine, exactly when do you want to start on it and where?"

"If I remember correctly you live pretty close to school, so maybe we could do it at your place, if that's okay with you off course."

"How do you know where I live?" Mikasa opened her mouth to answer, but Annie simply went on. "Doesn't matter, you can come over if you want. Just let me know what time you wanna start. The sooner this is over the better."

"Well, if you think about it that way... perhaps we can start today, right after school."

"Fine." Annie picked up her bag, walking out of the classroom. She had never brought anyone home, just the thought of it made her get nervous.

School was finally over, Annie pulled her hood to avoid getting her hair wet. The snow had turned into rain during the day, an indication spring was coming closer.

As Annie walked past the gate, a hand grabbed her arm and she turned with an angry scowl.

"Shall we go together?" Mikasa smiled at her.

Annie pulled her arm loose, and allowed Mikasa to walk next to her on her way home. The school was placed near the outskirts of the city, and they soon left the houses behind them. After not having seen any buildings for a couple of minutes, a house came within sights, surrounded by trees.

With shivering hands Annie opened the door, and the girls quickly stepped inside.

They hung their jackets on the hook in the hall, then Annie opened the door to their right, leading to the living room. The room was big, and the lack of furniture made it seem even bigger. Only a muddy brown couch and a wooden table near the fireplace showed that the house was inhabited.

Annie dropped her bag near the fireplace, and took a lighter out of her pocket.

Mikasa looked around the room while Annie tried to get a fire started. The walls were white and empty, gray curtains hung next to the wide windows, rain streaming down the glass.

"Have you always lived here?" she asked.

"Yeah."

No wonder Annie was always so gloomy. Despite the rain and cold being kept away, the house still gave off a depressing feeling. The fire had now grown, and Mikasa went to warm herself by it. Annie left the room, and came back a little later with towels and blankets. The girls dried their hair and sat down close to the fire, wrapped in a blanket.

"So... what was the topic of our work?" Annie asked, wanting to get this over with.

"Environment friendly transportation. Everything there is, and some further explanation as to why and safety." she replied in an annoyed tone.

Annie sighed as Mikasa took a bunch of papers out of her bag. How did teachers keep doing that, coming up with more and more boring homework. They got started, and thanks to Mikasa's previously gathered information they had written down a few pages when their stomachs started to growl.

"How about we take a break and eat something?" Mikasa asked.

"There's some soup left in the kitchen, we can eat it with some bread."

"Is that all you have?" Mikasa asked cautiously.

"No, but it's a bit late to start cooking so that will have to do. You coming?" Annie stood up and walked towards the door.

Mikasa followed her towards the kitchen. Unlike the living room, the kitchen had plenty of furniture, making it seem like they entered another house. A wide variety of pots was displayed on a shelf, all of them shining as if they were bought today. More spices than Mikasa had ever seen stood lined up over the length of the furnace, somebody liked to cook. Annie opened a closet and took some bowls. Mikasa noticed that the upper shelves of the closet were empty.

"Do you live here on your own?"

"Since a few years."

"Where are your parents?"

"That's none of your business." Annie said annoyed.

This was exactly why she didn't want to get involved with others, they only kept asking about things they had no business with. It was beyond her why she let Mikasa into her house. Ignoring the apology of her guest, she filled the bowls with soup and put them in the microwave. Then she put some bread on the table and waited for the soup to warm.

Mikasa tried the soup, and looked as if she wanted to say something. Now what? Annie thought.

"Mmm, this is delicious! Did you make this yourself?"

"Yeah." she replied, this time with a smile on her face.

After dinner they worked a little further, while the rain gushed down harder and harder, slowly turning into hail. They didn't notice how bad the weather had become, until Mikasa got a phone call.

"Hello, Eren... Yeah, I'm still at Annie's... Is the weather really that bad? ... I'll ask her." She looked at Annie, who was staring into the fire. "Annie, apparently the weather is too bad to even risk driving. Would you mind if I stay for the night?"

"Oh, sure, you can stay." It was not like she had much of a choice.

Mikasa ended her phone call, and looked at the papers in front of her with a sigh.

"I think we did enough for today." she said and started collecting them.

They had been sitting in silence for a few minutes when Mikasa tried to start a conversation.

"What do you usually do during the weekends?"

"Nothing really." Annie exposed her lie by looking longingly at the darkness outside.

"I mostly play games with Eren, it is fun, but when he loses he always gets angry and throws the cards around."

Annie didn't reply and another silence fell between them. Mikasa tried starting a conversation a couple more times, but with the amount of Annie's replies she might as well be talking to the wall. She sighed and checked her watch, it was a little past eight. Perhaps one last try would get Annie to finally come out of her loner attitude.

"Just sitting here is kinda boring, but it's way too early to sleep. Would you mind showing me the rest of your house?"

Annie stared at her for a while, then slowly rose to her feet, leading Mikasa through the many rooms. Most were empty, save for a closet or a table. Even the bathroom wasn't as full as the kitchen. The biggest surprise came when they entered the basement. A boxing bag hung in a corner, near it wasn't placed anything else, but in the rest of the basement stood racks filled with parts and gas bottles. One completed example showed what the parts were for.

"Is that a 3DMG? But Annie, that's illegal."

"No it isn't. Selling them is illegal, simply owning them isn't."

"Where do you get that idea?"

"My dad used to sell them, back when it was still legal. It was really expensive, so it barely sold. But there were some idiots who thought they didn't need the instructions and got themself killed. It was all over the news how dangerous it was so there were people returning them. And since there barely was anyone who still had 3DMG they just put a hold to selling them, not using them."

Mikasa took in what she had just heard, slightly surprised at how much Annie had said.

"Do you know how to use it?" As soon as she asked a smile appeared on Annie's face.

"Yeah..."

"What is it like?"

"It's hard at the beginning, but once you get used to it, it feels like you can fly. Rainy and cold weather are not so nice since you get really high speed, but it is the greatest feeling in the world."

Mikasa smiled at Annie's enthusiasm, it was the first time she ever saw her happy. Sure, Annie had smiled before, but the smile had never reached her eyes, until now, she looked really beautiful.

"Can you teach me?"

"Errr... it's not really something you can do indoors, but I can give you the instructions if you want." she said, reaching in a box and handing a small book to Mikasa.

"Thanks, Annie. But when the weather is better you'll teach me, right?"

"Uh, sure, I guess."

"It's a promise."

Somehow, Mikasa's smile copied itself on Annie's face. Together they went upstairs, to the first floor, and entered Annie's room. It was obvious where Annie spent most of her time. The room was only half as big as the living room, but packed with stuff. A king size bed stood in the middle of the right wall, above the bed hung an enlarged picture of a lake surrounded by trees, taken from a high place. At the opposing wall stood a desk with a TV and a laptop.

Next to the door were two closets, and the floor near the opposing wall was a meter higher than the rest of the floor, making it level with the wide windows. Pictures hung at every visible spot on the walls, making it impossible to know what color the walls were. Stuffed animals were scattered all over the room, and Annie nervously started picking up some clothes lying on the floor.

"Wow." was all Mikasa could say.

Annie dumped the clothes in a laundry basket and warily glanced at Mikasa.

"This is so different from the rest of the house, it's almost like a different world."

"... Is that a good thing?" Annie asked.

"I don't get you. You live by yourself, yet you still keep everything in your room. If you decorated the whole house like this it would be really cheerful, not depressing like it is now."

"..."

"But maybe the house reflects its owner very well. You always seem so... distant, but maybe, maybe deep inside you're actually a warm and caring girl."

Annie felt her cheeks getting hot, she couldn't think of anything to say. She really shouldn't have let Mikasa into her house.

Mikasa came a little closer.

"Don't you feel lonely, always being by yourself like that?"

Annie still couldn't think of anything to say, since when was Mikasa so good at reading her?

Mikasa surprised her by pulling her in a hug, not very tight, so she could still push her away if she didn't like it. They stood like that for a few minutes, then Annie put her arms around Mikasa, pulling her a little closer.

Why do I like this so much? Annie wondered. Mikasa was the one she got into most fights with, it didn't make any sense. Yet there she was, unable to let go of her. Mikasa patted her back.

"Don't worry, I will stay with you as long as you want."

Annie didn't respond, whether she ordered her body to hold her tighter or let go, her body simply wouldn't move.

When she finally let go, she didn't dare to look at Mikasa's face.

"It's past ten already, maybe we should go to bed." Mikasa broke the silence. "Where can I sleep?"

"Um..." Annie shaked the nervous, but nice feeling away. "In the couch downstairs. I don't have any extra beds."

"Okay. Goodnight, Annie." Mikasa kissed her on her cheek, and left the room.

Annie grabbed one of her stuffed animals, cuddling it until she fell asleep, with a smile on her face.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry for the long wait, I've been busy and on top of that I had no inspiration for a few days. I'll try to post the next chapter a bit faster, but for now, enjoy!

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Chapter 2

It was still early in the morning, or at least, early for a morning in the weekend. Last night's storm had passed and took all the clouds with it, allowing the sun to melt the thin layer of ice covering the earth. Annie was in the kitchen, making an omelet. She was completely focused on preparing the food, and jumped when she heard a voice in her ear.

"Good morning, Annie. What are you cooking?"

Annie turned around to find Mikasa stand right behind her, her hair messed up from sleeping.

"Mikasa! You scared me."

"Scared you? Do I really look that bad?"

"Uh, no, you look good. Um... I mean ... I'm making an omelet, you want one too?"

"Yes."

They sat down at the table, cutting their food. Annie glanced at Mikasa, what had gotten into her? Why had she become so talkative? As to answer the question she asked herself, a feeling grew inside her. She pushed it away, emotions were not something she needed. She wasn't used to have someone else in her house, and that was probably the reason. Annie decided she would never let anyone in her house again, and after this stupid group work was done, she would never talk to Mikasa again.

After they had eaten they continued on their work, and finally finished it at noon.

"Would you mind if I stayed for lunch?" Mikasa asked.

"Yes, I would mind. The work is finished, so just go home." Annie said coldly.

"Okay, I'll see you on monday."

Mikasa's face showed nothing as she put their work in her bag and left. Once outside she looked over her shoulder, thinking of the previous day. She had hoped to get to know Annie better, but whatever had made her talk, it was gone now.

Annie went to her kitchen, quickly grabbing something to eat, before heading to the basement. She took her gear, sighing as she remembered how much she told Mikasa. She walked to the forrest, let the cables of her gear lift her in the air, and forgot about everything else. The cables shot from one branch to another, allowing her to gather immense speed. Soon her hands got cold, despite the gloves she wore.

For a split second she thought of Mikasa kissing her last night, she lost her focus and missed the branch she was aiming for. She fell, coming to an abrupt stop in midair. She sighed in relief, luckily there were two cables.

After she recovered from the shock, she started again, this time a little slower. Finally she reached her favorite spot. High in a tree, the highest branch that could carry her weight. She looked at the clear blue sky, and slowly lowered her gaze to the frozen lake before her.

Two dears were grazing at the right side of the lake, while a fox trotted on the left side, stopping now and then to sniff the ground. Pine trees surrounded the area, their needles white with frost.

Annie sat down, no matter the season, no matter the weather, this place would always be the most beautiful place in the world. Even after the hardest of days, simply looking at the scene could calm her and make her forget about everything else. But not today. Today her mind went back to Mikasa over and over.

"Damn it!" she shouted, startling a couple of birds.

Why couldn't she get her out of her mind?

When the sun started to set she headed home, without being able to enjoy the view as much as she wanted to. The next day was no different, and for the first time, she wasn't able to relieve her stress during the weekend.

She made her way through the students hanging around the gates, through the hallways, into her first class. She was glad to see she was the first. She sat down in the back, next to the window and crossed her arms on her desk, using them as a pillow. Even now she couldn't get Mikasa out of her head, and it was frustrating.

"Annie?" asked a quiet voice.

She lifted her head, scowling at whoever dared to disturb her. Her scowl weakened when she saw Mikasa standing in front of her.

"What?" she asked in a bored voice.

"I read that guide you lend me." She held out the small book.

Annie grabbed it, touching Mikasa's hand as she did so. She returned to her previous position, hiding her face in her arms. She could feel her cheeks getting hot, what was wrong with her?

"So..." Mikasa said. "When do you think you can start teaching me?"

Annie peeked at her. Did she seriously want to learn operating a 3DMG?

"Never." she replied coldly.

"What? But you promised."

"I'm not gonna teach anyone anything, so just drop it."

The teacher walked in and Mikasa went back to her seat, disappointment visible on her face. But unlike Annie had hoped, Mikasa didn't drop it. Every break between the lessons, before and after school, Mikasa would find her and ask the same question over and over.

By thursday afternoon she couldn't take it anymore, seeing that disappointed look in Mikasa's eyes each time she said no.

"Fine! I'll teach you. Just stop nagging."

"Thank you, Annie." Mikasa smiled.

"One hour, no more."

"Ok, I'll do my best to pick it up fast, then."

"Whatever." Annie said and stalked of. There was no way she could escape this one.

They had agreed to meet on saturday at eleven. Annie had spent most of the morning putting together a gear for Mikasa, only to realize she could have let her do it and escape the actual teaching part. She sighed as she heard the doorbell ring, ignoring the small jolt off happiness as she opened the door.

"Hi, Annie." Mikasa said exited.

Annie let her in without saying a word, leading her to the basement. Two gears laid on a shelf, Annie pointed at one of them and said "That's your gear, if you don't know how to put it on, there's a manual beside it."

Mikasa struggled a little with the belts, but she managed to equip it faster than Annie did when she was learning it. Annie hooked Mikasa's wires at the ceiling to test her balance, and she easily pulled it off. They went outside, coming to a halt just before the tree line.

"Do you know how to operate it?" Annie asked.

"I think so." Mikasa said, remembering the guide she had read.

"Ok, aim for the branches, just go a few meters into the forest and then come back."

Mikasa nodded, aimed for a branch about tree meters above the ground. The cable shot out, successfully hitting its target. Mikasa was surprised by the speed and was unable to launch her second wire.

Annie watched amused at Mikasa's clumsy descend. Over and over she tried, not managing to get further than her first try. Soon she figured out how to adjust her speed, and before half of the hour had passed, she was able to finish the trail.

"Not bad." Annie remarked. "Do it again, but faster this time."

Mikasa disappeared in the trees once more, increasing her speed by a little.

"Faster." was all Annie said when she returned.

Another fifteen minutes passed, but she was still unable to reach the speed Annie wanted to see.

"All right," she sighed. "Try to follow me."

The blonde leapt into the trees, quickly gathering speed. When she took a turn she could see the red fabric of Mikasa's scarf, and decided to pick up the pace even more. She hadn't planned on going somewhere specific, but abruptly stopped when she realized she was headed for the lake. She didn't want Mikasa to see her secret place. She had landed on a thick branch, glad that the lake was still out of view.

Mikasa didn't expect the sudden stop, and ended up hanging by a single cable, swinging back and forth. A chuckle escaped Annie as she saw the girl with the reputation of having perfect control hanging there helplessly.

"Don't laugh!" Mikasa yelled as she tried to stop herself from swinging.

Eventually she managed to shoot her second cable and landed next to Annie, who still had a smile on her face.

"Why did you stop so suddenly?"

"... Because the hour you have is nearly over. I'll race you back." Without so much as a warning she jumped off, giving her a head start. She heard Mikasa shout something about being fair, which brought a smile to her face.

Just as the house came into view, Mikasa passed her. Annie didn't have the time to get angry for loosing as she saw Mikasa fall to the ground in a failed attempt to stop. Annie landed next to her and held out a hand. She pulled the black haired girl up, who avoided her amused gaze.

"Seems like we finally found something that miss perfect can't do." Annie teased.

Mikasa pulled her scarf up so only her eyes were visible. "If we didn't go that fast or if I had more time to practice that wouldn't have happened."

"Yeah, right." Annie said in an unbelieving tone. But she knew Mikasa was right on that point, after all, she was a natural.

They went back inside to take off their equipment. Annie was going back outside as soon as Mikasa left, but she didn't want to let the other girl know what she would be doing.

"Can I come again next week?" Mikasa asked.

"No. I said one hour, no more. Or did you forget?"

"Aww, come on, it's so much fun." Mikasa looked at her with puppy eyes.

"Eh, no." Annie replied, taken aback by how cute Mikasa looked.

"Please?"

"Why? It's not like I get anything out of it." She tried hard to stay firm, those eyes were killing her.

"Do you mean you want money for it?" The puppy eyes were gone.

Annie thought about it. She had to buy more gas, her stock was running out. It would be nice if she didn't have to pay for it herself. "Actually, that's not a bad idea." she said.

"Seriously? Since when do friends ask each other to pay for having fun?"

"I don't have friends." Annie said, feeling a little bad as she saw the hurt in Mikasa's eyes. "...But if you want to come again that badly, you might as well get something for me."

"Get what?"

Annie looked around for pen and paper, then wrote down the address, the kind of gas and the amount. She handed it to Mikasa, who studied it thoughtfully.

"If you get that you can come again for an hour next week." The gas was quite expensive, so Annie didn't expect to see her at her house again.

"Okay." Mikasa said, no emotion in her voice. She stared at Annie for a few seconds, then turned around with a sigh and left.

Annie sat down in the kitchen, reliving the past hour in her mind while eating her lunch. She returned to the forest, but like last weekend, she wasn't able to get Mikasa out of her head. She stared at the lake, most ice had already melted, but she wasn't able to enjoy the view. This caused her to be very stressed when school started again.

Annie was walking through the hallways, towards her first class, when a group of kids blocked her way. They were all younger than her but due to her small size they didn't notice she was a senior.

"Move it." she said, but none of the kids seemed to hear her.

She grabbed a boy by his collar and threw him aside while kicking another in the stomach, causing him the stagger out of the way. The rest of the group looked at her in fear, finally realizing who she was.

"Get out of my way." she said slowly, each word soaked in anger.

The kids ran off as fast as their legs could carry them, and Annie walked to the class, throwing her bag down and crossing her arms on her desk, using them as pillow.

Just as she was about to doze off, someone poked her. She lifted her head a little with the most angry look she could manage, only to see a red scarf hanging in front of her. She sat up, her features softening to a scowl, waiting for Mikasa to speak.

"Why did you attack those kids?" her voice held no blame.

"They were in the way." Annie replied in an annoyed tone.

"That's no reason to hit them. Is something bothering you?"

"Hm, let's see, what could possibly be bothering me?" she said sarcastically, tilting her head to the side as if she was thinking hard. "Oh, I know! A certain someone ruined my weekend."

"Are you... talking about me?"

Annie didn't say anything, but her eyes told everything.

"But you were having fun. In fact that was the first time I saw you enjoying something."

Annie averted her eyes, true, she had fun watching Mikasa fall flat out on the ground, just remembering it made her smile. It wasn't Mikasa's fault she couldn't get her out of her head.

"See, you're smiling. No way I ruined your weekend."

Annie stared out the window, leaning her face in her hand to hide a blush.

"Now, what I really wanted to ask you about is that gas. It's really expensive, what do you use it for anyway?"

"Those gears don't run on air."

"I see. But that's still a lot of money, especially when all I get in return is one hour of flying around in the woods."

"You'd actually buy it?" Annie asked surprised, looking back at Mikasa.

"Maybe, if you would be so kind to let me sheer up your weekend for longer than just one hour."

"Fine." she said, unable to hide a smile as she remembered how Mikasa had been hanging helplessly from one cable. Next time, she would bring her camera with her.

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I hope you liked it ^^


	3. Chapter 3

This chapter isn't as long as I would like it to be, but I didn't want to make you wait any longer. I haven't had much time to write, but I will try to do better for the next chapter. Now, enjoy!

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Chapter 3

Annie turned off the furnace, the soup was ready. All she had to do when she came back was warm it and cook the rest while she ate the soup. She glanced at the clock, just when the digits skipped to eleven she heard the doorbell ring. She took off her apron and went to open the door.

Mikasa smiled at her while carrying a rather heavy crate, Annie let her in.

"Hmm, something smells good." Mikasa noticed, sniffing the air.

"Well, you're not getting any, you didn't do anything yet."

They entered the basement, where they left the crate and put on their gear.

"Why are you taking a camera with you?" Mikasa asked as they walked towards the forest.

"To capture the scenery."

Mikasa remembered Annie's room, so she took all those pictures herself, interesting.

"Well then, we better get started, follow me!"

She immediately went for high speed, getting her trap ready. After going for a few minutes, turning right and coming to a sudden stop. And just as she had expected, Mikasa hung by a single cable, at the last tree before a farm field. She held back her laughter, lifting her camera and snapped a picture.

"What are you doing?" Mikasa shouted as she saw the flash.

"Just capturing the scene." she said before bursting out into laughter.

"You did this on purpose!" she managed to straighten herself and shot her second cable to land next to a still laughing Annie. "Would you please stop laughing?"

Annie tried to hold it in, lifted her camera and snapped a shot of Mikasa's flustered face, before bursting out in laughter again. Mikasa sighed and took the camera, hanging it around her neck, then quickly launched herself into the forest.

"Hey! Give back!" Annie shouted, pursuing Mikasa.

When she almost caught up to her, Mikasa turned left and stopped, hoping to see Annie hanging there as she had. But Annie simply landed next to her, stretching out her hand.

"Give back my camera."

"How can you do that? I always notice to late when you stop."

"I'm just better than you."

Mikasa handed her the camera. "And I hoped to snap a picture of you hanging there."

"You'll need to get better before you have a chance at surprising me."

Mikasa's stomach growled, successfully returning a smile to Annie's face.

"How about we go shut your tummy up?" Annie said and lead the way back home.

Annie turned on the stove and took a couple of bowls and plates out of the closet.

"I'll take those." Mikasa reached for the dishes and Annie returned her attention to the furnace.

Soon the soup was warm and they started eating, Annie often turning around to check on the rest of the food. She had done a great job at guessing how much they both would eat, only a few potatoes were left over.

"Annie, that was delicious. Where did you learn to cook like that?"

"I started by making recipes from books, but once I got used to it I just started doing it on feeling."

"There are only a handful of things I can make without needing a recipe, but the result is nowhere near as good as this."

Annie blushed. "If you want to eat here more often you could just say so. You don't need to start praising me."

Mikasa just smiled as they started cleaning the table and washing the dishes. It started raining and the girls decided to stay inside until it had passed. They sat at the table listening to the raindrops pattering the window.

"We got an A on our work the other day." Mikasa started.

"Hmm."

"It was nice of you to help out, I really thought you would've let me do it on my own."

"You still did most of the work, you could have done it on your own and still aced it."

"Sure, I got the information beforehand and wrote everything down, but I made sure to only write down what you told me to. If you were to try I'm sure you'll be at the top of the class."

"I don't care about grades."

"Then what do you care about?"

"... Pictures." Annie replied, demonstratively taking a picture of Mikasa.

"That all?"

"I guess... what do you care about?" She ignored the voice in her head saying 'you'.

"Well, school, obviously. And my family."

"I thought you lived with the Jeagers."

"My parents died in a car accident when I was eight, Eren's parents took me in, they are my family now."

"... Sorry." Annie placed a hand on Mikasa's arm.

"That's okay." she said with a weak smile. "May I ask why you are living on your own?"

"... My mom died right after she gave birth to me, so I never knew her." Annie's bored expression turned a little hurt as she continued. "Dad came to me one day, giving me a weird apology... then he said he had to leave to do something important somewhere. Never saw him again."

Mikasa placed her hand on top of Annie's. "He just left you? Why didn't he drop you off at family or friends?"

"... He said he was the only person who cares for me... and that I should never trust anyone." she mumbled.

It took her a little before she understood what Annie had mumbled, but when she did, Mikasa walked over to Annie and pulled her in a hug.

"I care for you."

Annie sat motionless in her chair, head pressed against Mikasa's belly, slowly taking in the meaning of what she just heard.

"You do?" she asked quietly.

"Yes." she patted her head. "You can be really annoying and mean, but once you drop the act you're a very sweet girl. A girl... that I'm happy to call my friend."

Annie put a hand around Mikasa's waist, returning the hug. It was hard to put down her mask, but when she was with Mikasa, it just felt right to do so. It also felt good to be able to talk a bit, but she didn't trust her enough yet to do more than sum up the events in short sentences.

"I could say just the same about you."

"So... you're happy to call me your friend as well?"

"...Yes." Annie smiled against Mikasa's belly, glad that the girl couldn't see her face.

The rain stopped and the girls broke off their hug to go back outside. Without saying much, they flung their cables at the trees, Mikasa taking the lead. Annie's mind was busy with different matters.

In the few weeks that they got to know each other, Mikasa had shown her nothing but warmth and understanding. No matter what, Annie didn't want to lose what they had now. Keeping things like they were was probably best, but it didn't feel like it was enough. She kept following Mikasa for a while longer, trying to decide what she should do. She took a deep breath, attempting to gather some courage, then bypassed Mikasa, having the black haired girl follow her.

Annie slowed down and landed on a thick branch. Normally she would've picked a higher branch, but those weren't strong enough to support two people. Mikasa landed next to her and looked at the view. A big lake stretched out in front of her, reflecting the gray sky. She had seen that lake somewhere before, in Annie's room on the big picture above her bed, and also on different small ones spread over the walls.

Annie sat down, and Mikasa did the same. They both watched a group of deers walk out of the forest to drink at the lake.

"It is a beautiful view." Mikasa said.

"Yeah. This is my favorite place. No matter what happens, coming here always makes me feel good."

"Really? It must be nice to have a place like that, thanks for showing it to me."

Annie looked at Mikasa, who smiled at her and turned her gaze back to the scenery. Annie kept staring at her, silently fighting with her feelings. When she was little, she had a friend, but her father made sure that didn't last long by giving her completely wrong ideas of how friendships work. By now she knew she had to be honest and not to hide her feelings. But simply knowing that, didn't mean she could simply do it. After a few minutes of struggling with herself, she continued the conversation.

"You know... lately being here hasn't been able to make me feel good anymore."

Mikasa returned her attention to Annie, waiting for her to go on.

"I just couldn't stop thinking..." her voice lowered, "... about what happened last time you were here." She stared at the lake, not daring to look at Mikasa.

"Is that why you said I ruined your weekend?"

Annie put her index fingers together and shyly says "Pretty much."

"Do you have a cell phone?" Mikasa said, changing the subject.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure where it is, I haven't used that thing in ages. Why?"

"So we can text and call each other. Maybe that might be able to cheer your weekends up. Aside from the moments that I am here with you, off course."

"Whatever." Annie said on an emotionless tone, but her blush gave her away.

They got up and went back to the house where Annie started searching for her phone. She found it in a drawer next to the recharger. She plugged it in, hoping it would still work. Mikasa scooted over to Annie, and a teasing smile appeared on her face when she saw the phone.

"I was short on money and this was the cheapest I could find." Annie said, preventing comments.

The phone was pink and decorated with hearts and flowers in different shades of pink.

"I had no idea you were _that_ short on money." Mikasa laughed.

"Shut up! Now give me your number, 'cause I have no idea what mine is."

Mikasa smiled as she gave her number, then realized it was getting late.

"I guess I should be on my way home. I'll see you on monday."

Annie walked with her to the front door, then surprised Mikasa by giving her a hug.

"Call me if you need anything." Mikasa said and quickly returned the hug.

She left and Annie went to print the pictures she took today so she could hang them up on the wall. It had been a crazy, but fun day.


	4. Chapter 4

I edited this chapter a little, and I started on the next chapter. My writers block came back for a few weeks, I hope it won't bother me too much in the future (before I started on fanfiction I had a writers block for over half a year). But for now, enjoy this new version!

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Chapter 4

Annie entered the school building, she was in a bad mood and scowled at everyone who dared to get closer than a one meter radius. She dropped her bag next to her bench and used her arms as pillow. She hadn't slept much, so she would use the time before class started to sleep some more. Just as she was about to doze off someone poked her. She slapped away the hand without even looking who it belonged to.

"Annie." As soon as she recognized the voice she lifted her head. Mikasa smiled at her and sat down at the desk in front of her. "Did you have a nice weekend?"

They were alone in the classroom. "Saturday was nice. But sunday was kinda boring."

"Same here. All I did yesterday was making homework, it's just crazy how much they give us."

"Well duh. If you keep making it they have to give you new work. Just do what I do, don't make it, and eventually they'll stop asking you to make it."

"That's just because they gave up on it, but the result is visible on your grades."

"You sound just like a teacher, telling me I have bad grades and I should do something about it, while you know I don't care."

"I never said that much."

"You were thinking it."

"No. I was thinking about what could make you take this serious."

"Don't waste your time on that, this whole school thing just doesn't work for me."

"And what if I were to teach you?"

"I thought I was teaching you." Annie said and pulled a picture out of her pocket. It was the picture were Mikasa hung upside down. "Seems to me like you're the one who needs lessons."

Mikasa blushed and grabbed at the picture, but Annie pulled it out of her reach.

"You know I'm better at it now, that doesn't happen anymore. I'm just as good at it as you."

"Hmm? I'll be the judge of that, after all, I'm the teacher here." Annie teasingly got closer.

"Oh, really? Then please tell me, all-knowing teacher of mine, what is it that I can do to improve?" Mikasa moved closer as well, playing along.

Annie pretended to be thinking very hard. "That's hard to say, I have never met someone this bad. It would take years of practice, and very close study." she mimicked an old man's voice and leaned even closer as she said the last three words.

"I am truly lucky to have a teacher as patient as you, else what would become of me?" Mikasa said sarcastically and leaned in as well, leaving only a few inches between their faces.

Jean walked into the class, and came to an abrupt stop when he saw Mikasa and Annie giggling. "Wha-?" he sputtered. The two most lonesome and expressionless girls he knew were _laughing_. When they heard him the girls looked up, their deadpan expressions returning. After staring at his dumbfound face for a few seconds, the girls burst out in laughter again. Jean took a few steps back, bumping into Eren who had wanted to enter the classroom.

"Where do you think you're stepping on?" Eren said in a cocky voice.

Jean turned around to face him. "Your foot, didn't notice?" He stomped on Eren's foot and the two boys started fighting.

"Oh, no. They're at it again." Mikasa said when her giggles had stopped.

She started to get up but Annie held her down by her arm. "Let them be. They're not hurting anyone, not even each other."

Mikasa looked at the boys a little longer. They were rolling over the floor in what looked like a fight, but their fists held no power. Why they were fighting without wanting to hurt each other was a mystery to her. She looked at Annie, who had taken to staring at her with slightly pink cheeks. Mikasa stared back into Annie's icy blue eyes, and she could swear the ice was melting from the slowly increasing heat of Annie's cheeks. Mikasa broke off their staring contest when the teacher pulled the boys apart and entered.

After a few hours of boring lecture Annie sat down in the corner of the lunch room. The food in her lunch box had her full attention and she almost jumped when someone sat down next to her. No one ever sat down next to her. She looked up and a little smile spread across her face when she saw Mikasa.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked.

"Not if you don't bring your idiotic friends along." Annie replied, eyeing the table Mikasa usually sat at.

"They're not idiots."

"Whatever, just make sure they stay where they are now."

Mikasa placed a finger against Annie's cheek and gently forced her to face her. "What is your problem with them? You don't even know them. You didn't know me either until a few weeks ago and now look where we are."

"But you are different."

"Different? How?" Mikasa raised an eyebrow.

"... You just kept trying no matter what I said."

"So if they all try hard at being your friend then you'd eventually be friends with them all?"

"No..."

"Then what is it?" Mikasa was getting curious.

"I don't know, there is something about you..." Annie returned her attention to her lunch, slightly flustered.

"I wasn't planning on becoming friends either. Everyone, including me, gets annoyed by the fact that you are able to pass grades without doing anything. I saw my chance to... show you your place, I guess. But somewhere along the way I found something I like."

Annie turned to Mikasa, unsure how to react. She blushed lightly, but wasn't able to hide it with her scarf because she was eating.

"... I hope I don't annoy you anymore." Annie said hesitantly.

"Sometimes, when you start to open up a bit, and then suddenly push me away again. It's not just annoying, it also hurts."

"... Sorry."

Both girls ate their lunch with pink faces, glancing at each other now and then.

On tuesday they had PE, basketball. Usually during games, Annie and Mikasa would start throwing the ball at each other's face as hard as they could, regardless of what team they were on. But this time, to everyone else's surprise, they worked perfectly together. Being the two most athletic girls, they easily won every match they played.

The teacher decided to make things even and switched Annie and Christa from team.

Annie was not much of a team player, and just dribbled the ball over the field, ignoring her teammates. Just as she was about to score Mikasa jumped and blocked the ball, allowing one of her teammates to catch it.

At this point everyone expected Annie to swing a fist or foot at Mikasa, but instead of doing that, she smiled. Mikasa returned the smile and jogged away, receiving the ball from a teammate.

By the end of the hour both girls were panting, having gone all out. The rest of the girls had been watching, not able to keep up with them.

They blocked as much as they scored, and when the teacher blew his whistle to announce the end of the lesson, it was a draw. Annie and Mikasa walked up to each other.

"Not bad, we should play more often." Mikasa said.

"You're not too bad yourself, at this at least." Annie grinned.

Mikasa raised an eyebrow. "At this? I'll beat you at anything, any time."

"Chalange accepted. And I know just the thing to beat you at."

"Sure you do." Mikasa smiled and turned around, heading towards the changing room.

"Saturday, my place, ten o'clock." Annie smiled at Mikasa's thumbs up. She was totally going to win that match. It was not going to be a typical kind of match, but Mikasa said anything was fine, and she would regret having said that.

By the end of the week the whole school knew that the two former enemies had become friends.

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Suggestions for the next chapter are welcome, I can't promise I will use them, but just in case my inspiration vaporizes again.


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